Summary translation

The starting point for the research project is the fact that the understanding of wealth – as it is providing the basis for regional and local policy decision making – is too narrow in that it primarily focuses on the market economy and monetary effects. What is often left out are dimensions of wealth related to the social and natural environment. These dimensions, however, contribute to a large degree to the well-being of a region (e. g. strengthening of social relationships, living environment, regional identity). Also, economic activities are often looked at in isolation from their related organisations and individuals (such as suppliers, customers and other regional stakeholders). The aim of this research project is to integrate the fundamental importance of the natural environment for human existence and the various interrelations between the human society and nature into a holistic view on human wealth. The project attempts to make a conceptual and methodological contribution to widening the view on the wealth creation effects caused by regional organisations and individuals in the ecological food sector. In doing so, the project is directed towards the scientific community in that it provides an interdisciplinary approach to the debate on wealth models in a social-ecological context. The project is also directed to the local and regional organisations and individuals in that they (a) participate in the development process of a method to investigate the wealth creation effects of economic and other social entities in the region and (b) directly benefit from the method and derived strategies for their own activities. In this way, the research project explicitly follows a transdisciplinary approach. Expected results of the project are • a participative method to (a) elaborate dimensions and indicators of wealth in a particular region and (b) investigate the wealth creation effects of economic and other individuals of the organic food sector in the Berlin-Brandenburg region of Germany • regional wealth dimensions and the contribution to wealth creation coming from the regional organic food sector • suggestions for strategies, projects and an improvement of the institutional framework to support multidimensional wealth creation activities, learning procedures of sustainable life and working, and a better inclusion of consumers’ needs in organic food production Integration of the project into the Framework Programme of Social-ecological Research and innovative contributions of the project The research project investigates a regional product life cycle (organic food products) with its material and information flows (topic 2 of the framework programme: "society needs and matter, energy, and information flows”). Multidimensional effects of organisations and individuals of the organic food sector are evaluated systematically starting from agricultural production leading to consumption. The project also makes contributions on the effects of the organic food sector on social-ecological transformations (topic 1 of the framework programme: "social-ecological transformations and society innovations”). Collective learning is an essential part of these investigations as well as the regional self-organising and cooperation processes and institutional requirements with respect to change and innovation. The research project deals with questions of three typical problem areas of social-ecological research: (A) basic problems and method development, (B) implementation problems and relation to practice, (C) gender relations and the environment. Innovative contributions arise from the explicit need - and cognition - based approach of the method to be developed by part 1 and 2 of the research project. Information on regional wealth dimensions and creation effects gained with this method provide a basis for the development of new sustainable wealth models and contribute to the scientific debate on sustainability indicators. New approaches to interdisciplinary research arise from the project, e. g. from the application of life cycle assessment to investigating interrelations and synergy effects of human action in relation to the socio-cultural and natural environment. In addition, the strong transdiscliplinary approach of the project produces methodological knowledge for advancing social-ecological research.